The sun was still high, sulled in the sky like a mule, but Augustus had a keen eye for sun, and to his eye the long light from the west had taken on an encouraging slant.
In the opening passages of the novel, we see how Augustus understands and relates to nature. To have a "keen eye for sun" suggests that in some sense, Augustus "reads" the sun in order to decide on a course of action. This relates to the way that Call patrols the river every night in order to listen to the land. The "long light from the west" could symbolize the allure that the "Wild West" (as it was called) held for many early Americans. It is not yet clear why the light encourages Augustus, but the description of the "encouraging slant" contributes to the light's symbolism.
Of course the boy lapped up Augustus’s stories about riverboats and whores. The boy hadn’t been anywhere, so it was all romance to him.
In this moment, free-indirect narration from Call's perspective describes how Newt's lack of real-life experience causes him to romanticize any stories that take place away from the ranch. This is similar to McMurtry's assertion that many people romanticize the Wild West of the American frontier despite the historical violence and hardship. Call desires to protect Newt from talk about shameful topics such as sex work.
Silent happened to be how she felt when men were with her.
Along with the scar on her lip, Lorena's silence is part of her persona. This unnerves her clients and quickens the exchanges, but most of all, Lorena's silence reveals the deeply ingrained misogyny of the time. Due to Lorena's past abuses at the hands of her father and the men who pimped her, she deeply distrusts men and takes care not to reveal her true self to them. Augustus is an exception to this.
The casual acceptance in this quote conveyed in the phrase "happened to be" shows Lorena's pragmatic way of looking at things.
Call and Gus had been the law themselves and didn’t always bow and scrape to it.
Jake Spoon bets that his old friends will protect him. For this reason, he comes to Lonesome Dove while on the run from the law. However, this very perspective eventually contributes to Jake's downfall when he passively accompanies a band of criminals and expects his old Ranger friends to understand his intentions and spare his life.
This quote also reveals the gray area of frontier justice. Though Call and Augustus were tasked with protecting settlers along the border, they also want more freedom than other legal and governing institutions would afford them.
The last thing he wanted to do at such times was talk—a man who was talking couldn’t listen to the country, and might miss hearing something that would make the crucial difference.
Call pays strict attention to his physical surroundings in case of a possible attack. After years of working as a Ranger, Call remains primed for violent encounters. He patrols the river nightly to hone his instincts, and in times of acute danger, he focuses on "[listening] to the country." For this reason, Augustus's loquaciousness annoys Call. This quote demonstrates how perceiving even the smallest detail (a rustling bush, for example) makes all the difference in the world. Call takes this duty seriously because he feels responsible for the men under his command.
He could not formally make Deets the leader over two white men, but he wanted him to know that he had the responsibility of seeing that the horses got there.
This quote reveals the rampant racism that was very much a part of the times. The novel takes place in the 1870s, meaning that the Civil War had occurred relatively recently. Although Deets was a former Texas Ranger who served under Call for three decades, Call feels he cannot explicitly put Deets in a leadership position over white men. In other words, it does not matter how qualified Deets is; Call follows the racist customs of the times.
July didn’t like for things to be out of the ordinary in his life. It seemed to him it was better to do as other people did—if society at large did things a certain way it had to be for a good reason, and he looked upon common practices as rules that should be obeyed. After all, his job was to see that common practices were honored —that citizens weren’t shot, or banks robbed.
In comparison with Call and Augustus—who do things their own way regardless of the customs and opinions of others—July conforms to collective practices and rules. All three of these men work or have worked in some area of law enforcement. However, Call and Augustus value their personal liberty within the context of their social duty. While conformity does not necessarily indicate a lack of fortitude, Clara Allen later points out that July is easily manipulated because he lets others push him around.
"I'll be your whore."
From the beginning of the novel, Augustus shows affection for Lorena. She differentiates the way he speaks to her from how other men do. This quote in particular reveals Augustus's unusual way of relating his own sexual desire to Lorena through humor. It startles and amuses Lorena to hear this because of how strange the concept of a male sex worker is.
The boy, growing up in the village, first with a Mexican family and then with the Hat Creek outfit, was a living reminder of his failure. With the boy there he could never be free of the memory and the guilt. He would have given almost anything just to erase the memory, not to have it part of his past, or in his mind, but of course he couldn’t do that.
Call cannot bring himself to claim Newt as his son because of the shame that clouds Call every time he sees Newt. When Call visited Maggie (Newt's mother, who was a sex worker) years ago out of curiosity, she formed an attachment to him that he could return. Augustus urged his friend to spend time with Maggie, listen to her, show her care and affection, and call her by her name. This pressure amounted to nothing since Call lacked interest in socializing with anyone (especially a sex worker). Call nearly broke off his friendship and professional partnership with Augustus over this particular conflict. When Maggie died, the outfit eventually assumed care for Newt, but Call's shame never abated.
It was strange that three such people had been on the Canadian, but then, that was the frontier—people were always wandering where they had no business being. He himself had done it and got away with it—had been a Ranger in Texas rather than a lawyer in Tennessee. The three torn specimens he was tying into their shrouds had not been so lucky.
Unlike Call, who does not think twice about the American project of settler expansion, Augustus at times considers the perspective that settlers "were always wandering where they had no business being." Here, Augustus reflects on the strange circumstances that led to Janey, Joe, and Roscoe's deaths. Although these three were travelers (not settlers), Augustus still comments on settlers when he defines the frontier as a place where people go despite not belonging. As in other passages in the novel, the frontier is construed in a fluid way, at once physical and psychological.
“I’m sorry you and Gus McCrae ever met. All you two done was ruin one another, not to mention those close to you. Another reason I didn’t marry him was because I didn’t want to fight you for him every day of my life. You men and your promises: they’re just excuses to do what you plan to do anyway, which is leave. You think you’ve always done right—that’s your ugly pride, Mr. Call. But you never did right and it would be a sad woman that needed anything from you. You’re a vain coward, for all your fighting. I despised you then, for what you were, and I despise you now, for what you’re doing.”
In her outspoken way, Clara expresses her contempt for Call. This happens after she finds out that Call left Newt in charge of the Montana ranch without verbally claiming the boy as his son. While Call may feel honorable in fulfilling his promise to Augustus, Clara places far more value in showing up for Newt than in acting on a dead man's final romantic whim.
